According to FIFA regulations, players who have represented a national team or territory are no longer eligible to play for any other national team or territory.
This means that once the group of seven players – Gabriel Felipe, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel – donned the Malaysia national team jersey and appeared in the match against Vietnam on June 10, they would no longer have the opportunity to play for any other national team.
In the event that Malaysian football and the aforementioned group of seven players fail in their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), they will also be barred from playing for the Malaysian national team from now on, officially bringing an end to their international careers at the national team level.
These players were granted Malaysian citizenship incredibly quickly and represented the “Harimau Malaya” team just as fast, only to see their international careers conclude with “lightning speed.”
The incident began on March 19, when a player named Hector Hevel (born in the Netherlands) was naturalized as a Malaysian citizen. Just six days later, he played in a match between Malaysia and Nepal at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri (Johor state, Malaysia).
Hector Hevel scored one goal in Malaysia’s 2-0 victory over Nepal in the match on March 25.
By early June this year, six other players had also been naturalized as Malaysian citizens. These players include Gabriel Felipe, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, and Jon Irazabal.
These six players, along with Hector Hevel, were brought onto the field for varying durations in the match between Malaysia and the Vietnam national team on June 10, at Bukit Jalil Stadium (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
International media reported that on June 11, a complaint was sent to FIFA, alleging a lack of transparency regarding the dossiers of Malaysia’s naturalized players.
Things quieted down for a while until the evening of September 26 (Vietnam time), when the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) unexpectedly announced sanctions against the seven players: Gabriel Felipe, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal, and Hector Hevel. They were “suspended” for one year.
Each player was fined an additional 2,000 Swiss francs (approximately 66 million VND). The FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) was fined 350,000 Swiss francs (approximately 11.6 billion VND).
FIFA stated that the involved players used fake documents to obtain Malaysian citizenship. The FAM was fined for violating Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code regarding the falsification and use of forged documents.
On October 16, FIFA publicly presented evidence proving that the grandparents of the seven naturalized players were born in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and the Netherlands, not in Malaysia, as stated in the dossiers provided by FAM to FIFA.
FAM and the group of seven naturalized players appealed to FIFA’s Appeals Committee. By 9:00 PM yesterday evening (November 3), FIFA posted information rejecting the appeals from FAM and the seven involved players.
After their appeal at FIFA failed, FAM and the seven naturalized players will have 10 days to request FIFA to provide documents related to the disciplinary decision. Subsequently, they will have another 21 days to complete the procedures for suing FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
If FAM and the seven naturalized players sue FIFA at CAS, it is not ruled out that there will be both a preliminary and an appellate hearing at this court. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) stated that the entire matter is expected to conclude before March 31, 2026 (the end date of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers).
